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A musical background sounded, a potpourri in which themes
by Ennio
Morricone predictably predominated, as the Sheriff and
his two deputies fought against the James
brothers, with much pointing of guns which did not always
synch with the sound effects, making it more entertaining,
like watching small boys playing. Little was missed out. A
deputy fell over the breaking balcony of the Sheriff's Office,
there was stunt riding and plenty of death scenes. Especially
pleasing were the hanging of the originally captured James
brother, who seemed to be holding onto the rope with one hand
to prevent himself from really being hanged, and the death
of the last James, who went into hammy throes which must have
lasted a good two minutes. The main theme from 'Gone
With the Wind' sounded at the end, for no very apparent
reason.
 The
bank contains quite an interesting film museum with a number
of old cameras and projectors and the original, Spanish posters
of films made on the set. We strolled up to the small, extremely
cardboard cemetery, past the barber's, and around the stable,
where the same horses that take part in the show can be hired
for a 1,000-peseta trot around I-know-not-where. The undertaker's
held a wax corpse in a coffin and the general store seemed
to sell mainly watering cans.
 As
is right and proper, the can-can show was in the Yellow Star
Saloon, which is a working affair, i.e., you can get a drink
and a snack there, this being very welcome - we were in the
desert, after all. And when a much needed beer is cooling
you down you really do not mind that the crowd to see the
can-can girls is jostling you a little.
There is more - a carriage museum, a cactus garden of which
they seem very proud, the telegraph office... I amused myself
trying to guess which buildings had been put up as 'real'
film-set buildings and which added later for the theme park.
In fact, I learnt that practically all the structures date
from the cinema days. "The first buildings were the Sheriff's
Office and the Bank," a helpful park manager told me,
"built for 'For a Few Dollars More.' The saloon is original
from the swing doors up to the stage area, which we added
on. Of course, many of the buildings have been changed a number
of times - the barber's, for example."
I had come specifically intending to see something of the
history of films in Almería, so the zoo was not my
primary interest, but we walked round it anyway. I could not
really say to what extent it is a 'serious' zoo, by which
I mean organized for the benefit of the animals and visitors,
or science or conservation, rather than being a purely commercial
attraction. It is in the zoo's favour that all animals in
it were born in captivity. At the far end, I was a little
displeased to see a number of grazing animals - zebra, bison,
deer - in enclosures completely lacking in vegetation or shade.
On our return, however, the Siberian
tigers looked content and well cared for. The adjacent
Titi House is delightful (titis
being sparrow-sized South American monkeys, with very expressive
faces. They are so tiny it is disorientating, like looking
through binoculars the wrong way). While I can see the advantages
for parents wanting to keep children amused, I did feel that
the zoo and the wild-west town sat incongruously together,
rather as they do in this article.
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